Christmas Lights
by theonewhosawitall
Summary: Adrien said something incredibly mean and hurtful to Marinette and everyone is angry with him. Now he's alone at Christmas. After fighting with his father, he's wandering the street as Chat Noir with nothing but a scarf to defend him from the cold. But when Marinette was locking up the bakery and saw her partner staring at the Christmas lights outside, she had to make sure he's ok.


It was Christmas eve night. He'd had yet another fight with his father, and he'd taken it out on Marinette. It wasn't her fault at all and he'd taken it out on her. she was just trying to help… He couldn't get the image of her tears out of his mind. Her tears became a flood. Even Nino looked at him like he was crazy. The images of his friends faces, if they were still his friends, they were burned onto his mind. Hauntingly perfect images. Like a photo. The horror in their faces filled him with so much guilt it actually hurt his chest.  
Sometimes this bad luck Plagg had gifted him with felt like a poison. A poison in his blood.  
One he would never even consider giving up. no matter how much pain it accidentally caused for him, or for anyone else, he'd never give up Plagg.  
Chat Noir tugged his pale blue scarf closer around him as the icy wind cut past him. it was his only defence against the cold. it was the only proof he had that his father still cared. Really cared. Chat wasn't sure where he has going. He just needed to walk off the pain, he let the wind and his feet choose the rest. His mind was full of ways he could make this up to Marinette. It was finding the best one he struggled with.

Chat passed a house with huge windows and curtains wide open. Inside was a tree decorated so terribly that it had to have been done by a family, and beyond that, there was a group of children huddled against the sofa, pretending to be asleep. He knew they were pretending because they kept opening one eye to glance at the mince pies, carrots and milk on the mantlepiece. Their mother was upstairs. He could see her silhouette in the upper window. Someone else, probably their father, was dressed up as Santa in the window opposite, ready to thrill the kids.

"Just walk away," he heard the windows, taunt. "You don't get a happy Christmas. Just walk away."

Chat couldn't believe what he said. Or how she'd stood up and gone when he said it. he felt a stab of guilt at the memory of her glancing back, tears in her eyes. One minute they had been talking about how they were still waiting for the snow too fall, and the next, no one would talk to him…

Christmas really sucked this year.

Strings of flickering lights hung between the lampposts as he kept walking down the street. the Christmas lights were rainbow coloured candles floating on the air. those patterns hanging from the lampposts were like chandeliers of hope. Chat raised his head to take them in. it was dark. The streets were empty. Flakes of snow were beginning to drift down around him. but the lights continued to flicker, unfazed. Relentless. They lit up the street, beautiful as fireworks, and stole all of his attention. Without noticing, Chat was wandering again, focused on the Christmas lights. Some drunken elf bumped into him, knocking him back.

"Watch where ya going ya fleabag!" the elf slurred.

"s-sorry," Chat shivered.

The elf ignored him, and staggered onwards down the street, singing old Christmas songs in a drunken slur at the top of his lungs. "I ALWAYS LO-O-VED YOU DAR-RLIN' AN' – hic – AN' I ALWAYS WILL!" His voice echoed down the street around them as Chat dragged his gaze back to the Christmas lights.

They were different here. pretty still, but different. White shining snowflakes sat either wide of a flashing gold line that curled around them, and sparkled before restarting the line. This one really was like a firework. That's what transfixed him for so long. The pretty fireworks…  
Marinette reached up to lock the bakery door when movement outside caught her eye. Everyone had long since wandered off home, and by now every child in the city would have been tucked up in bed waiting for father Christmas to arrive. So why was Chat Noir out on the street staring up at the Christmas lights.

"wait here Tikki. I'll only be a minute," Marinette said, reaching for her coat.

Tikki eyed the last couple of Christmas cookies on the shelf. She glanced up at Marinette. "I won't go anywhere."

Marinette pulled on her coat, and shivered in the blast of cold. she jogged across the road with her hands thrust deep into her pockets. Chat Noir didn't notice her footsteps, even though they were the only sound audible above the wind.

"Are you okay Chat?" she touched his arm as she asked.

Chat Noir turned to look at her. his eyes widened and his stomach dropped. He hadn't realised he was near the bakery. He hadn't realised she would come to make sure he was ok. he should have. Marinette was that kind of girl. His cheeks were too red from the cold to blush, but he felt the heat grow in them anyway. it was all he could feel. The rest of him was so cold he was numb.

"You ok?" she repeated.

"I…" he gulped.

He had no idea what to say. The only thing he wanted to say was sorry. He didn't mean to hurt her. he never meant to hurt anyone but he never, _never_ , wanted to see her hurt. But if he said any of that, it would be too much, and give too much away. Marinette tilted her head curiously at the sight of his scarf.

"Hey, where'd you get this?" she reached out and took the end in her hand.

"My father gave it to me," he stammered.

She grinned at him. her beautiful smile lit up her entire face with so much joy that his heart missed a beat. she looked so much like Ladybug sometimes that he dared to hope maybe she was, because then Ladybug would love him, like Nino was always saying Marinette did. He felt so shallow to think that. Guiltier too. He bowed his head. Her smile was too much, so the pride in her tone almost broke him.

"I made this! I made one for Adrien in this colour, but Nino and some guys from school asked if I could make them one too. Adrien's a real trend setter…" Her smiled faded and her voice ached.

Chat Noir's chest heaved. she was still hurt. That weighed on his chest so hard it actually ached. But this wasn't from her. his father had given it to him. she couldn't have made it.

"How do you know you made it?" he found himself asking.

She smiled a real smile again, a proud smile again, and lifted up a tag at the bottom that was the same colour as the scarf, and Adrien had assumed was a laundry tag. Underneath, bold as brass, her name was embroidered into the wool. Chat Noir's heart dropped again. his father didn't care. His father didn't care enough to remember his birthday, and stole Marinette's present instead… But Marinette cared. Marinette had gone out of her way to make him a present by hand, and embroider her name in it! she cared enough to come out in the cold, in the start of the snow, and make sure he was ok. Marinette cared. He had hurt her. the only person who really cared about him. he felt her hand squeeze his arm gently.

"Hey, why are you out in the cold alone? No one should be alone at Christmas," she said.

His eyes met hers. He could see her warmth, and passion, and joy and concern, and care, and _love_. She was so full of it, it shone out through her eyes. Chat Noir couldn't stop himself. his hand pressed against her cheek, and he pulled her close against him. his ice blue lips met her warm pink ones. For a moment she froze. Shocked into a statue. Guilt bubbled in him again. chat pulled back, but she grabbed his scarf and yanked him back against her. Chat ran his cold hand along her cheek, and to the back of her neck. She gasped in shock at his frozen claws on her warm neck, and leapt back. Chat winced, guiltily. He stared down at the ground, blushing.

"I'm sorry, I should never have-"

Marinette stopped him by taking his hand. She had turned him herself. now she looked rosy, and embarrassed, but happy.

"do you wanna come inside, where it's warm?" she asked.

Chat looked up at her in surprise. She gave a sheepish smile, biting her bottom lip as she did. She looked nothing like Ladybug now. not in the rainbow shine of the Christmas lights. No, here she looked like Marinette. She was beautiful in her own right. breathtakingly so. Chat Noir nodded, slowly. Marinette's smile grew. She linked her fingers through his. His warmed up as hers turned numb. She led him across the road, and into the bakery. Suddenly a burst of warmth turned him back to flesh and blood, rather than ice. Marinette scooped up Tikki, and the remains of the Christmas cookie, and slipped her into her jacket pocket. chat watched her lock the bakery door behind them, and turn towards the back of the bakery.

"This way kitty," she smiled.

Chat smiled gratefully, and followed her up the steps to her living room, where her parents were waiting. They welcomed him in with open arms. Chat Noir was grateful for a lot that year. Mostly for the Christmas lights that twinkled relentlessly outside though.  
Those Christmas lights that lit up the street had found a way to her back to him. He had something warm to eat, somewhere where he was welcome to stay, and he had her. Full of guilt or not, he couldn't help feeling warm inside. for now, his troubles were gone. They would come back soon for sure, doubly, but right now? Right now those Christmas lights kept shining on.


End file.
